Indeed, the two favorites, whose popularity have spawned fan clubs, t-shirts and even a set of collectible action figures -- my favorite is the Mary Krause standing over a defeated and fallen Matt Baker; it's on my desk -- could not overcome the efforts of Mitchell and Thompson.

Thompson can thank Robinson kicker Cody Hodgens, who gave the CCC parent TWO correct answers that Ketchum fumbled: one for "Will there be a score in the first six minutes" and "Will Hodgens catch a pass and kick a FG?". Hodgens kicked a FG three minutes into the game, and caught three passes for 78 yards to lead his team.

"You know, when we lost to University, my father vowed to avenge my sorrow,'' CCC linebacker Ethan Thompson said, maybe, or not. "And avenge it he did. I just remember him sitting there filling out his form, pounding on his keyboard, just saying over and over this one is for Ethan, this one is for Ethan. I mean, sure, it was a little creepy, and yeah, we had to move out into a motel room for a few days we were so freaked out, but it all makes sense now. He was just so focused, and he just really wanted a HomeTeam Hot Shots t-shirt."

Oh, and shameless plug, as part of his Larry's prize:

Krause, one of the steadiest players in the game and known for knitting her opponents exotic decorative pillow covers before destroying them in battle, had won her tournament games by 29-24, 15-12 and 14-12 scores before falling to Mitchell.

Here's the sweet lady you beat, Mitchell. Is that a tear in the left eye? Look close. LOOK CLOSE!

I hope you can sleep at night on your new decorative pillow cover, Mitchell.

Krause's son, a renowned War Dragons Underworld Warcraft player, said his mother was too distraught to be taking questions, but that he would be sending Tothar the Great, who has a +4 spells and +11 warhammer, to hunt Mitchell down. He then hung up abruptly.

OTHER PICK-EM NOTES

* SHOCK and Lidell Golden got 11 of 17 correct, which is impressive. Get in touch with me, let's see how I can get you fellas a t-shirt without spending all my Christmas bonus on postage.

* How bad were Krause and Ketchum's total of 6 right? Only three other entrants had lower totals.

* Hound Dog Man was the only one to pick a FG for the first score of the game, on his way to 10 right.

* Good to see some of the regulars hanging in there until the bitter end. These guys all got 9 correct: Alejandro Tamayo, @RonCanGoBowling, DrakeU, CBurgos77, and Derrick Brown.

* Thanks to everyone for playing. It was fun. For something I expected about 20 people a week to play, we ended up hundreds. Crazy! If not for Jarrod Smith's idea for automated entry and scorekeeping, and Matt Baker figuring out how to tally things, I would still be scoring week 3. So thanks fellas!

* Speaking of Baker, he only had five right this week. Didn't want to end on too much of a feelgood note.